Throughout
the history of RC flying there have been changes to the
radio equipment that has made dramatic and drastic changes
in the way we participated in this hobby. Some of the
most notable changes have been adding more than one channel,
reed control, fully proportional control, FM signal, narrow
band frequency selection, and full digital signals. But
the latest advance in our equipment almost overshadows
all of those previous changes combined. The latest advance
in our radio equipment is 2.4 Ghz Spread Spectrum radios.
So what makes this so special? The most important aspect
that this brings to the table is the fact that Spread
Spectrum radios can be operated in the presence of other
radios without the risk of interference. The fear of having
two radios on at once, which in the past would result
in a crash of the plane, is gone forever now. Frequency
boards are a thing of the past with this new technology.
So now pilots can fly with confidence that somebody accidentally
turning on a transmitter won't crash their plane.

Airtronics had entered the 2.4 Ghz Spread Spectrum playing
field with an 8-channel offering that is capable of controlling
both airplanes and helicopters. Instead of "re-inventing
the wheel" by building a radio from scratch Airtronics
has adapted their very popular 8 channel RD 8000 radio
to the new 2.4 Ghz Spread Spectrum technology. So all
of the easy to use and familiar user programming is still
there for those Airtronics faithful who have grown to
love these rock solid radios. Airtronics chose to use
the Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) technology
in their radio. This means that the receiver for this
radio has only one unit which has two antenna leads that
need to be placed 90 degrees to each other to provide
the signal diversity needed for these radios. Airtronics
felt that this setup gave the best performance while still
remaining easy to install for the pilot.

I have to confess that I have been an "Airtronics
Man" from the start. I learned to fly on an Airtronics
radio and have used them for the majority of the last
12 years. I have always liked the reliability of Airtronics
radios, and I feel that the servos from Airtronics are
some of the best out there these days. So when I heard
that Airtronics was releasing a 2.4 Ghz radio I have to
admit that I was secretly hoping that I would get the
chance to do this review. So when this radio was offered
to me to review it was a "no-brainer" to have
them send it to me!w I will admit that when the "Big
Brown Airplane Truck" (a.k.a. the UPS truck) dropped
the radio off I was like a kid at Christmas time. I couldn't
wait to get home and open up my "present" and
play with it.

So with this in mind, let's dive in and take a look at
the Airtronics RDS 8000 2.4 Ghz Spread Spectrum radio?..

Airtronics RDS8000 2.4GHz
FHSS Radio

Price:
$229.99

The
RDS8000 is a full-featured 8-channel system, packed
with capabilities for all types of aircraft. A top-quality
digital radio, the RDS8000 is noted for its ease-of-operation
and programming. Helicopter, fixed wing aircraft and
sailplane pilots will all benefit when using the standard
features of the RDS8000.

Whether flying a basic model or one that requires advanced
features, the RDS8000 can do it all! One of the key
features of the RDS8000 is the ability to use both basic
or advanced program menu.

The RDS8000 makes programming easier by allowing you
to turn off any programming screen not required. Because
it uses Airtronics' FHSS 2.4GHz communications technology
you never have to worry about an 'open frequency'. Fly
any time with confidence.

The new
92824 8ch 2.4 GHz Receiver is a perfect match for
the RDS8000 transmitter. Once binding is complete, it
is almost impossible to interrupt the communication
between them.
Does not include servos or receiver battery.

The
first look at the RDS 8000 packaging reveals a very
artistic black box that is very stylish with the artwork.
When the box is opened up I want to give everybody a
small warning as many may be shocked with what they
find, or more importantly what they won't find. When
the box is removed the foam-packing container will be
a little "empty". And indeed, when everything
is removed you will find the RDS Transmitter, 92824
2.4 Ghz receiver, an on/off charge switch harness, the
wall charger, an alternate set of switch labels, and
the instruction manual. Most notably missing will be
the servos and a receiver battery. I must admit that
at first this was a little shocking for me. What I mean
is that I grew up in this hobby when you opened up a
radio box and everything you needed was in there. And
now I look at this Airtronics RDS 8000 box and it seems
like there should be more there. I had a talk with Mike
Greenshields at Global Hobby (distributors for Airtronics)
and read some posts by Airtronics staff here on RCU
and it suddenly became clear as to what they are doing
here. And when you think about, it is actually quite
a stroke of genius on Airtronics' part. In this day
and age of this hobby there is so much diversity in
what pilots are doing. 10-15 years ago there weren't
many choices in servos and batteries so manufacturers
could package them together and be fairly certain that
they were going to be used by the pilot. But today in
many cases a pilot will buy a radio and immediately
discard the servos and battery because they just don't
suit his flying style. In addition, with many electric
planes out there today the radio will be powered from
the ESC (Electronic Speed Control), which is driven
by the main battery for the motor, and in cases such
as this the pilot doesn't even require a battery to
be shipped with the radio. Many radios out there these
days will get labeled as a certain type of radio simply
because of the servos that are included with it. For
instance, a radio that ships with "standard"
servos might gain a reputation as a beginner's radio
and have more serious pilots pass it over when considering
a new radio. Airtronics took a hard look at this and
made the decision to simply sell the base radio, and
allow the pilot to tailor it to their needs with their
own choice of servos and battery. After I thought about
this some I decided that Airtronics might have just
hit on a fantastic idea for marketing radios. I wouldn't
be surprised if we don't see more manufacturers doing
the same in the years to come.

The Manual

I
have always thought that Airtronics did an excellent
job writing their manuals, and the manual for the RDS
8000 is no different. The manual is an 84-page document
written in black and white. All of the diagrams in the
manual are clear and easy to read. To document the programming
of the radio the manual steps through all of the programming
and gives a good description of each function. The manual
separately explains helicopter and airplane programming.

The
manual also has a few "extras" that I thought
were very nice touches. The manual includes a description
of the procedure needed to change the radio from Mode
2 to Mode 1, or vice versa. Also included are programming
"cheat sheets" that can be used to record
the settings for each model that is set up in the radio.
This is something that I have always done on my own
in order to keep track of what the radio settings are
for a given plane. I find this can really come in handy
when you "decommission" a plane, but decide
to get it back in the air at a later date. Since I save
all of my programming sheets I can quickly re-setup
the plane using the cheat sheet. This also comes in
handy when setting up new planes as you can use it to
see how you have set up items on other planes. While
the manual only has one set of templates, it's an easy
matter to run off copies to use for your setups.

The Transmitter

While
the RDS 8000 shares the same programming and case from
the RD 8000 channel radio Airtronics has made one major
change to the exterior of the radio. Gone is all of
the chrome that "decorated" the outside of
the older RD 8000. I must admit that I really like this
change as it gives the RDS 8000 a rugged utilitarian
look. It gives it a "just get the job done"
look! The transmitter is a dual-stick radio that can
be set for either Mode 1 or Mode 2 operation. The height
of the sticks can easily be adjusted for the comfort
of the user. For those who haven't dealt with a 2.4
Ghz radio one of the biggest changes will be the antenna.
Gone is the long antenna that needed to be extended
while the radio is in use. A short rubber covered antenna
is now used. What is most important to note here is
the position that the antenna needs to be in while in
use. The antenna needs to be folded so that it points
"up", perpendicular to the radio when held
level, while the plane is in use. Some problems have
been reported by 2.4 Ghz users of all brands when the
antenna is left pointing straight out, which has resulted
in the temporary loss of control of the aircraft. While
it's not anything wrong with the radio I will point
out that there is one thing that new users to 2.4 Ghz
radios should be ready for. That is the "balance"
of the radio. Without the big antenna of older radios
the balance of the radio feels a little bit different
when first used, but it doesn't take too long to get
used to the new feel of these radios.

The display for the radio is for the most part a very
well designed part of the radio. When in use it displays
all the important information in clear and easy to read
format. It also doubles as a stopwatch or countdown
timer to use in timing your flights. But this brings
up one of my biggest complaints about this radio (which
actually goes back to the older RD 6000 and RD 8000
radios). When naming radios in the display is limited
to 3 characters to display the name of the plane. I
find this very limiting and at times a bit confusing.
With my previous Airtronics radios with the same naming
limitations I have resorted to making "crib notes"
to keep track of which plane is assigned in the radio,
and then I keep this in my flight box. I really wish
that Airtronics would correct this and give us more
characters to name our planes with.

Looking
towards the middle of the radio you will find a loop
with which to connect a neck strap to if you use one.
The RDS 8000 is equipped with a trim tab for the 4 major
axis of control on the sticks of the radio, which are
throttle, rudder, elevator, and ailerons. The trims
are digital, which means that each time the trim tab
is moved you will get one "click" of travel
from that control. The amount of travel with each click
is programmable in the radio, so you can set it to what
suits you best. The RDS 8000 is equipped with trim memory
so the radio will remember the trim settings for each
plane that is programmed to it. Looking at the right
side of the radio we find 4 controls located above the
right stick. There are two switches and a control button
on the face of the radio and one toggle switch located
on the top of the radio. The toggle switch on top activates
the flaps when in Airplane mode, and activates flight
modes when set to Helicopter mode. On the face of the
radio the inner most switch is set to the Aux 2 channel
which is programmable in the radio. The middle switch
is set for Aileron Dual Rates when in Airplane mode
and for C-Mix 1 & 2 when in Helicopter mode. The
last control on this side of the radio is a throttle
cut button. I like this feature, as it is a dedicated
control that doesn't have to be programmed. In other
radio brands the throttle cut must be assigned to a
radio switch and then programmed, but on the RDS 8000
it has its own button and the only programming required
is to set the amount of travel that occurs when the
control is activated. Moving to the left side of the
radio we find a similar set of switches. The top switch
controls retracts when in Airplane mode and Flight mode
3 when in Helicopter mode. On the front of the radio
the inner most switch controls the Aux 1 channel when
in Airplane mode and C-Mix 1 & 2 when in Helicopter
mode. Also located here is a trainer button, which is
used to pass control to an attached buddy box when training
a student to fly. This button is a weak spot, which
I really felt could be better. Since I do a lot of instruction
of students I have spent a lot of time with my fingers
on trainer buttons and switches. I have found that trainer
buttons are very uncomfortable and quickly make my fingers,
or thumb, cramp up while using them. I would have much
rather seen a dedicated switch instead of a button.

Moving
to the bottom portion of the radio we get to the controls
used for programming the radio. At the left side of
the control panel is a LED which is used when binding
the receiver to the transmitter, and below that is the
bind button which is used to place the radio in bind
mode. In the middle of the control panel are 4 buttons,
which are used to navigate the programming menu as well
as change the settings for items within the menus. On
the right side of the panel are four buttons, which
are also used to make selections while programming the
radio. Located to the right of the control panel is
the on/off switch for the radio.

Turning
the radio over we find the battery compartment. The
RDS 8000 is equipped with a 600 Mah Ni-cad battery pack.
I felt that the battery provided could have been a little
bit bigger. In this day and age of battery technology
having a battery that has a higher capacity would be
a nice touch that can help extend a pilot's flying at
the field. Located to the left of the battery compartment
is the trainer cord connection, which is used when hooking
a buddy box up when training a student to fly. The trainer
connection is the standard Airtronics 5-pin connection
that has been used for many years.

The Receiver

Currently
Airtronics only has one receiver available for the RDS
8000, which is the 92824 receiver. This is an 8 channel
receiver which measures 1.8"x 1.1"x 0.60",
and weighs in at a tiny .53 oz. The antenna of the receiver
is two "wires" that extend from the receiver.
The black part of the wire is the coaxial leads that
connect the antenna to the receiver, and the actual
antennas are the clear portions of these wires. As I
will describe later in this review, these antennas need
to be installed so that they are positioned 90 degrees
to each other to provide better signal pickup. The servo/battery
connections are the standard "Z" connectors
found on many brands of servos on the market today.
The receiver can be used with any standard servos on
the market, although using Futaba servos will require
shaving off the alignment tab located on the servo plug.
The standard channels for this receiver are throttle,
rudder, ailerons, elevators, gear, flaps, and two auxiliary
channels. If all 8 channels are used for controlling
servos a Y-harness will be needed in order to connect
the battery to the receiver, with a servo plugged into
one side of the Y-harness and the battery plugged into
the other side. The RDS 8000 also ships with a standard
on/off charge switch harness. This allows the receiver
battery to be charged while in the plane.

While the stock receiver is quite small Airtronics currently
has even smaller receivers in the works. These new receivers
will be more suited for park and foamie flyers. So the
RDS 8000 will be able to suit all of your flying needs
with a full line of 2.4 Ghz Spread Spectrum receivers.
In addition, the standard 92824 receiver shown here
is one of the most affordable 8-channel 2.4 Ghz Spread
Spectrum receivers on the market today. It is priced
at $79.99 which is a great bargain.

To
put the RDS8000 through it's paces I chose my tried
and true Kaos 60 built from RCM planes. This plane has
become a bit of a test bed for reviews such as this
because it's one of my favorite planes and therefore
I know very well how it handles. This knowledge of the
planes allows me to know what the product being reviewed
adds to, or subtracts from, the plane. In the above
pictures you can see the "before" and "after"
pictures of my installation. The only noticeable difference
between the two, of course, is the antenna on the old
72 Mhz radio is missing in the second picture because
the RDS8000 2.4 Ghz radio doesn't use that long antenna.

As
noted earlier in this review the antennas for the receiver
consist of two coaxial wires with the actual antennas
on the end of each wire. The clear plastic portions
are the actual antennas. The only consideration that
needs to be followed when mounting these antennas is
that they need to be placed so that they are oriented
90 degrees from each other. After a little bit of experimenting
I found that the easiest way to mount them in the fuselage
was to cut two small pieces of clear antenna tubing
and attach them with CA to the top of the fuselage.
By using this tubing it makes if very easy to maintain
the 90 degrees orientation of each antenna. After slipping
each antenna into the mounting tube I used a small piece
of blue painters tape to hold them in place so they
will not slip out during flight. Since the actual receiver
portion is quite small (1.8" x 1.1" x 0.60")
it was very easy to install in the fuselage. And with
the length of the coaxial wires it gives a little bit
of flexibility in where to place the receiver. As you
can see in my photo I packed the receiver in foam just
forward of the servos in my Kaos. The weight of the
receiver is quite low (0.53oz) and shouldn't affect
the CG of planes that it's installed in.

The
key to how the 2.4 Ghz radios work without interfering
with each other lies in "binding" the receiver
to the transmitter. The transmitter cannot control the
receiver until the binding process has been accomplished.
The transmitter and receiver will be bound together
when they are received so performing the binding process
should not need to be done on a new radio system. But
if a new receiver is added to the transmitter, or in
the unlikely event that a receiver loses its binding,
the binding process will have to be done by the operator.
It is a very easy task to accomplish and can be done
in a matter of a few seconds. Because the receiver was
already bound to the transmitter I did not have to do
this for my radio, but I want to explain the process
here to show how simple it is to do. The Binding process
is a simple four-step procedure:

Place
the throttle stick in the idle position and ensure
that the flight mode switches are set in the Normal
(N) position.

Turn
on the transmitter. The Bind LED on the transmitter
will light up.

While
holding down the BIND key on the receiver turn the
receiver on. The Bind LED will flash slowly. With
the Bind LED flashing slowly let go of the BIND key.

With
the Bind LED flashing slowly on the receiver press
the BIND key on the transmitter. The Bind LED on the
receiver will flash rapidly and then will turn to
a solid light. The solid LED on the receiver indicates
that the receiver has been properly bound to the transmitter.

Setting
up the radio for my Kaos was very simple. It took me
a total of about 10 minutes to dial in all the settings
I needed for this plane. Since this plane has become
a test bed of sorts I have all the control throws, dual
rates, throttle settings, and other settings all recorded
to aid in doing setups such as this. I was able to duplicate
this setup quite quickly with the RDS8000. The simple
structure of the programming menus on the RDS8000 are
very intuitive and make it easy to quickly setup even
the most complicated plane setups.

And
that is that. The installation of the receiver is quite
simple and can literally be accomplished in minutes.
There are no surprises in mounting the receiver or in
mounting the antenna leads.

The
programming menus for the RDS 8000 is very easy to understand
and navigate. All of the menus are laid out in a drop
down list style that is sorted by channel. Under each
channel the options for that channel are laid out in order.
Navigating the menu is a simple matter of using the directional
arrows located on the control panel on the front of the
radio to scroll the the various menu options. When the
item you desire to change is located use the "Inc"
and "Dec" buttons to change the settings for
that item.

Listed
below are the menu items as they appear on the menu
screen of the radio. I have laid them out here in this
fashion to show just how easy it is to move through
the menus.

The RDS8000 offers a built-in timer and allows
the pilot to use the stopwatch function in either
elapsed time or countdown mode.

C-MIX
- Compensation Mix

The RDS8000 has two compensation mixers available
to handle advanced mixing needs. These are in
addition to the predefined mixers.

The
purpose of a Compensation Mixer is to allow one
transmitter control input to affect two flight
functions. A common mix would be Aileron to Rudder
to achieve coordinated turns without moving the
rudder stick. However, the RDS8000 provides a
predefined mixer for this function.

The RDS8000 provides you with the capability to
program your aircraft so that Aileron stick deflection
will also cause the rudder servo to respond in
the same direction, (right aileron=right rudder).
This automatic coordination of rudder with aileron
is useful in many high wing/scale models that
suffer from adverse yaw with aileron application.

The RDS8000 offers the Trim Memory Function on
all four of the flight control channels and the
Flap Channel. Trim Memory for Elevator, Aileron,
Throttle, and Rudder is input by the Digital Trim
keys. It can also be set when you use the INC
+/YES or DEC -/NO keys to input trim.

Any
trim that you set while your model is in flight
by use of the Digital Trim keys will automatically
be stored in memory for that specific channel
and model.

Another useful function provided by the RDS8000
for engine powered models is T-CUT, Throttle Cut.
The RDS8000 has a push button that, when pushed,
overrides the throttle sticks low throttle position
and drives your throttle servo to a lower position,
stopping the engine.

When
you use this function you can cause the flaps
to deploy when the elevator control stick is moved
up or down. This function is most commonly used
for aerobatic models where deploying flaps (or
flaperons), with elevator control can make for
tighter corners on maneuvers such as the square
loop.

When you use this function you can cause the ailerons
to move left and right when the rudder control
stick is moved left or right. The purpose of this
mixer is to allow one transmitter control input
to affect flight functions. A common use would
be in knife edge flight where you need a small
correction in aileron to prevent roll coupling.

The Integral Timer function of the RDS8000 is
activated each time the transmitter power switch
is turned on, and continues to time up to 99 hours
and 59 seconds at all times when the transmitter
is turned on.

The RDS8000 has the ability to control different
fixed wing aircraft types, including conventional
single aileron servo or dual aileron servos on
individual channels with differential adjustment
and wings with flaperons/spoilerons. The Spoilron
function is normally used with sailplanes.

The RDS8000 has the ability to control several
aircraft'?wing' types, including conventional
single aileron servo, dual aileron servos on individual
channels with electronic differential adjustment
and delta (or "flying wing") configurations
with Elevons. It is only possible to electronically
adjust differential when using TWO CHANNELS for
ailerons, with one servo on each side of the wing
driving that wing's aileron. The AL-DIF (aileron
differential) function only applies to the DELTA
and FLAPE menu functions.

The RDS8000 transmitter normally is set to emit
an audio tone when ever the programming keys are
pressed, when values are changed and when the
stop watch function is started, stopped or reaches
the final ten seconds of countdown.

The L-DIF (landing differential) function enables
the ailerons of a sailplane to be effective whenever
both the left and right ailerons are raised when
CROW or SPOIlRON are used in landing. Typical
thermal sailplanes require about twice as much
of up travel than down travel of their ailerons
in order to produce a coordinated turn. The RDS8000
allows you to set the amount of differential aileron
travel during the landing mode.

In a sailplanes landing mode, the flaps provide
a large amount of both lift and drag. This causes
the plane to fly very slowly and descend gently.
On very light sailplanes the rate of descent may
be so slow that the plane tends to "float
right past" the landing spot.

Any trim that you set while your model is in flight
by use of the Digital Trim keys will automatically
be stored in memory for that specific channel
and model; providing that TRM was previously turned
OFF in the OPTIONS section of the program.

In the advanced programming you have the ability
to turn off unused programming screens with the
OPTION MENU SCREEN. This is vary useful and vary
convenient when one of your models only requires
some features. For example one aircraft is used
as a triainer and you do not need to use any C-MIX,
CROW, AI-DIF, DELTA, V-TAIL, you can go to the
OPT screen and turn them off so they will not
display in the normal programming screens.

The Flaperon function can be used to obtain two
separate aileron channels with a servo in each
wing. It can also be used so that the strip ailerons
act as flaps and deploy in a downward direction
to create both lift and drag.

Your RDS8000 offers a feature that will allow
you to use 2 independent channels so you can use
2 seprate servos for each elevator half. You will
be using Channels 1 and 7 on the receiver to use
this feature.

Activating
the Daul Elevator feature will automaticly disable
your AUX-1 channel 7 switch and will allow channel
7 to be used with the elevator stick.

You
will be able to set the EPA, REV, CENTER and FAIL
safe seperatly for both channels. Use Channel
1 for your left elevator and use channel 7 for
your right elevator.

By default the BASIC aircraft and helicopter programming
menu are on. Basic programming gives you the basic
features included in the RDS8000. By turning BASIC
OFF, you are turning on the ADVANCED aircraft
or helicopter programming menu.

The RDS8000 transmitter has the ability to control
sailplanes or powered models that utilize a V-Tail
control system. In these aircraft the two tail
controls perform both as elevators and as rudders.
Two servos and two channels (receiver channels
#1 and #4 are required for V-Tail operation).

The RDS8000 allows for automatic adjustment of
Elevator trim as you advance or retard the throttle
stick. This is a valuable option as most sailplanes
will need a change in pitch trim when ever flaps
are deployed. By making this adjustment with an
electronic mixer, the pilot does not have to alter
the elevator digital trims each time flaps are
used, and thus does not have to re-trim the elevators
for normal flight.

The RDS8000 offers a built-in timer
and allows the pilot to use the stopwatch function
in either elapsed time or countdown mode.

C-MIX
- Compensation Mix

The RDS8000 has two compensation mixers available
to handle advanced mixing needs. These are in
addition to the predefined mixers.

The
purpose of a Compensation Mixer is to allow one
transmitter control input to affect two flight
functions. A common mix would be Aileron to Rudder
to achieve coordinated turns without moving the
rudder stick. However, the RDS8000 provides a
predefined mixer for this function.

Dynamic
Trim Memory (DTM) is an advanced function that
can be used in conjunction with the Flight Mode.
Dynamic Trim Memory allows you to make trim changes
while in any flight mode WITHOUT affecting any
other flight mode or model.

The RDS8000 offers the Trim Memory Function on
all four of the flight control channels and the
Flap Channel. Trim Memory for Elevator, Aileron,
Throttle, and Rudder is input by the Digital Trim
keys. It can also be set when you use the INC
+/YES or DEC -/NO keys to input trim.

Any
trim that you set while your model is in flight
by use of the Digital Trim keys will automatically
be stored in memory for that specific channel
and model.

Another useful function provided by the RDS8000
for engine powered models is T-CUT, Throttle Cut.
The RDS8000 has a push button that, when pushed,
overrides the throttle sticks low throttle position
and drives your throttle servo to a lower position,
stopping the engine.

The RDS 8000 allows you to select the SWH (Swash)
mode o operation the main rotor pitch, which is
controlled by the Swash Plate moving up or down.
When the Swash Mode is selected, the outputs of
the Elevator, Aileron, and Pitch servos are mixed
to control the pitch of the helicopter's main rotor.

The throttle curve for each flight mode has five
points that can be adjusted to suit your specific
needs. Within each throttle curve these points
are referred to as PH (high pitch), P3, P2, P1,
and PL (low pitch)

The RDS 8000 provides for setting Revolution Mixing
for each of the 4 Flight Modes. Each Flight Mode
has its own curve for adjusting tail rotor position
in response to the throttle/collective stick movements.

The Integral Timer function of the RDS8000 is
activated each time the transmitter power switch
is turned on, and continues to time up to 99 hours
and 59 seconds at all times when the transmitter
is turned on.

Pitch
Curves (Flight Modes)
The RDS 8000 allows you to customize four distinct
flight modes for each helicopter model. The pitch
curve for each flight model has five points that
can be adjusted to suit your specific needs.

By default the BASIC aircraft and helicopter programming
menu are on. Basic programming gives you the basic
features included in the RDS8000. By turning BASIC
OFF, you are turning on the ADVANCED aircraft
or helicopter programming menu.

The RDS8000 transmitter normally is set to emit
an audio tone when ever the programming keys are
pressed, when values are changed and when the
stop watch function is started, stopped or reaches
the final ten seconds of countdown.

In the advanced programming you have the ability
to turn off unused programming screens with the
OPTION MENU SCREEN. This is vary useful and vary
convenient when one of your models only requires
some features. For example one aircraft is used
as a triainer and you do not need to use any C-MIX,
CROW, AI-DIF, DELTA, V-TAIL, you can go to the
OPT screen and turn them off so they will not
display in the normal programming screens.

Any trim that you set while your model is in flight
by use of the Digital Trim keys will automatically
be stored in memory for that specific channel
and model; providing that TRM was previously turned
OFF in the OPTIONS section of the program.

A valuable feature of the RDS8000 is the Data
Copy Function. With this function the entire set
of control parameters for one aircraft can be
copied from one model set-up into another.

After
arriving at the field I setup and prepped my plane to
fly. Of course we all know that a range check should
be performed on all radios, especially before the first
use. On older radios the range check was performed by
walking about 30 paces away from the plane and lowering
the antenna, but of course that is not possible on a
2.4 Ghz radio because the antenna system is different.
The RDS 8000 includes a procedure to reduce the power
on the radio in order to perform a range check. This
is accomplished by walking approximately 30 paces away
from the plane and turning on the transmitter with the
Bind button depressed. Continue holding the Bind button
until the Bind LED goes out and then release the button.
If the LED then resumes a steady blinking the radio
was successfully placed in Range Check Mode. I range
checked the radio with no problems found.

With
the range check completed it was time to fly the plane.
I fired the plane up and taxied out to the runway. A
control check was made to ensure all control throws
were properly set and then she was away. After I was
in the air I did have to make some slight adjustments
to bring the plane into a hands-off trim condition.
But after that the only real thing I can say about my
flight was that nothing happened. And when testing a
new technology like this I guess that is about the best
thing that can be said. The radio worked flawlessly
with no issues. I took the plane up as high as I could,
as well as flew it as far away that I could safely see
the plane in order to see if there were any glitches
in the controls, which there weren't. The radio just
worked as it was designed to. I flew a total of 4 flights
that day and all of them were incident free. The receiver
handled all control inputs quickly and servos and I
had fantastic control over the plane.

While
in the air I noticed that I really liked the feel of
the radio in my hands. While Airtronics says it's basically
the same as the old RD 8000 radio, I must say that it
felt better in my hands than my old 8-channel radio.
Whether this is true or not I don't know, but the radio
felt really nice in my hands. All of the controls are
right were they "should" be, meaning that
I was able to find all of the switches without having
to hunt for them with my fingers. I liked the fact that
the radio is equipped with a stopwatch that can count
up or down when used to time flights.

As I packed up for
the day I had a silly grin on my face, as I knew that
I had a new "favorite" radio that would be
making lots of trips to the field in the future. I knew
that the first thing I needed to do when I got home
was to get online and order some more receivers for
my other planes!

There
were several small items that I felt could have been done
better on the RDS 8000. Namely improving the 3-charcter
display for naming models, changing the Trainer button
to a switch, adding rudder and expo control to the rudder
channel, and putting a larger battery in the transmitter.
Now with those small gripes out of the way let's talk
about what I liked about the radio. Basically, everything!!
I think that the RDS 8000 is a great radio that I will
be using for quite some time to come. It has enough flexibility
to appeal to even the most advanced pilots, yet it's programming
is simple enough for any pilot, even those just starting
out, to figure out. The programming matrix for the radio
is set up in such a way that it can be navigated without
consulting a manual.

As a long time Airtronics user I was extremely pleased
to see Airtronics get into the 2.4 Ghz market. While they
have not been the first to put out a Spread Spectrum radio,
the radio that they did put out is sure to have some heads
turning over at "the other brands". Airtronics
has obviously set their goal to provide their usual high
quality products adapted to the latest technology to produce
what could be an industry leading radio.

Airtronics has taken the time to create a radio system
that will appeal to a large group of pilots, but has kept
the price at a level that the wallet is sure to like.
The decision to leave servos and a receiver battery out
of the included hardware may prove to be something that
the industry will follow on. I think that it was a great
decision on the part of Airtronics to make a move such
as this.

Looks like you spent a lot of time putting this all together. It was an excellent review. It was too windy to fly my new Twist 60 today, but I broke in the engine and did the radio set up with my RDS8000. There are very few Airtonic people at our field, but they were all impressed with the transmitter and how I set up the antennae inside the plane. The range check feature worked great and went beyond the 30 paces. I agree that the 3 characters and smallish TX battery are the negatives, but one can get a large capacity battery.
Thanks again for all the work
belair bob

Very nice writeup Ken. I'm less concerned about the size of the TX battery and more concerned that by placing another brand of battery in the box you void the warranty on the radio.
I'll be consulting this review in the future as the features are explained so clearly and the illustrations are first rate.
Thanks again,
Clay

Having been a former Airtronics user, its nice to see them in the 2.4 arena for aircraft and helicopters,,, its been a long time coming,,, I wonder how long its gonna take them to catch up with the rest?

It is possible to setup DR for rudder .
You need to setup a mix on one of the mix buttons so that the rudder will be mixed to itself
R->R
then set up 2 values 100% and 50%
and here you have DR for the rudder.

Excellent review Ken. I have been a fan of Airtronics for many years and still use a VG4R Vangaurd 4-channel in my Kadet Senior for training new pilots. I have never had any problems with an Airtronics product. I too have been waiting for the 2.4 GHz Tx/Rx set from Airtronics. Now with the buy a Tx/ Rx package and get an extra Rx, how can anyone not buy one? The good just got better. bc

The comments, observations and conclusions made in this review are solely with respect to the particular item the editor reviewed and may not apply generally to similar products by the manufacturer. We cannot be responsible for any manufacturer defects in workmanship or other deficiencies in products like the one featured in the review.